Dakar (SUNA) – Sudan has reaffirmed its commitment to continuing efforts to promote and protect human rights and to cooperate with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, as well as relevant regional and international mechanisms. Reiterating its commitment to African solutions to African problems, Sudan called on the Commission to visit the country to examine violations committed against civilians by the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia and assess the humanitarian conditions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees. Addressing the 89th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, currently being held in the Republic of Senegal, Sudan’s delegation head, Ambassador Abdel Ghani Al-Naeim, welcomed the Senegalese government’s hosting of the session. He praised Senegal’s stability, peaceful coexistence, dialogue and peaceful transfer of power. He also congratulated the Commission on the 45th anniversary of the adoption of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the 40th anniversary of its entry into force. Ambassador Al-Naeim explained that Sudan had been experiencing exceptional circumstances since the outbreak of the rebellion by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia on April 15, 2023. He highlighted the human rights violations committed by the terrorist militia, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as attacks affecting civilians, state institutions and civilian objects, as documented by international governmental and non-governmental organisations. In response to these heinous crimes and grave violations, he added, the President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC) had issued a decree designating the RSF as a rebel terrorist group. Al-Naeim said the militia’s continued commission of crimes and violations was attributable to the ongoing support it received from a country outside the African continent. This support, he said, included the supply of advanced strategic weapons, drones and military equipment, as well as financing and the recruitment of mercenaries from outside Africa. The ambassador noted that this support was facilitated through cooperation with neighbouring sister countries, stressing that all parties involved bore full responsibility for their role in the shedding of Sudanese blood, the rape and torture of women, and the deprivation of elderly people, children and other Sudanese citizens of even their most basic human rights. He stressed that these horrific crimes should not be portrayed, as some had done, as a conflict between two parties. Rather, he said, they constituted an attempt by forces from outside Africa, pursuing colonial objectives, to gain control of Sudan, the continent’s third-largest country by area. Al-Naeim emphasised that the Sudanese government and Armed Forces were working to protect the country’s sovereignty and unity and achieve lasting peace, in accordance with the United Nations Charter and the Constitutive Act of the African Union. In this regard, he referred to the Sudan peace initiative presented by TSC President General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan before the United Nations General Assembly, as well as the initiative submitted to the UN Security Council by Prime Minister Dr. Kamil Idris. He explained that the initiatives included arrangements for disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, submission to justice, and a transitional period to be followed by free, fair and transparent elections. He also noted the approval of a national initiative led by a civilian committee comprising prominent Sudanese figures, aimed at launching an inclusive Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue through which Sudanese people could determine their country’s future themselves. On strengthening accountability and preventing impunity, Ambassador Al-Naeim referred to the fifth interim report issued by the National Committee for Investigating Crimes and Violations of National Law and International Humanitarian Law. The report covers the period from August 11, 2025, to August 2026. He also highlighted the government’s humanitarian efforts, including the opening of the Adré border crossing with Chad, the launch of reconstruction efforts, the provision of services and the creation of conditions conducive to the return of citizens to their areas of origin. These efforts, he added, included completing the National Executive Plan for Human Rights for 2026–2030 and strengthening cooperation with United Nations and regional mechanisms. The Sudanese delegation urged the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to visit Sudan as soon as possible to investigate on the ground the violations suffered by citizens and assess the humanitarian conditions of victims, IDPs and refugees whose suffering had been caused by the rebel RSF militia. Al-Naeim stressed that developments in Sudan were of concern to the entire African continent, given the country’s geographical position and its historical and cultural ties with neighbouring states. He warned that any continuation of the war by the militia and its supporters, particularly those from outside Africa, would pose a threat to the African continent and to regional peace and security. At the conclusion of his address, Ambassador Al-Naeim expressed Sudan’s gratitude to sisterly and friendly countries that had supported its sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, welcomed Sudanese refugees and provided them with assistance. He also commended the efforts of international and regional organisations, government bodies and voluntary organisations in delivering humanitarian aid to those affected, both inside and outside Sudan.BH/BH